


She comes at midnight

by Sarcastic_mommy, victoriacapo



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Deviates From Canon, Drama, F/M, Psychology
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28599966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarcastic_mommy/pseuds/Sarcastic_mommy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/victoriacapo/pseuds/victoriacapo
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto fight, and she is not sure which one will win. Sakura does what she can, trying to make the right decision. She sees a subtle movement of his chest in time with uneven and weak breathing. She believes that he acknowledged his mistakes and changed his goal. And she believes that he can stop his clan mate.This is a translation of Victoria’s fic. The original can be found at: https://ficbook.net/readfic/9452210
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Madara
Comments: 1
Kudos: 49





	1. Desperate decision

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [She comes at midnight](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/738993) by Victoria Capo. 



> I’d like to thank Victoria for writing the original fic. I found the plot captivating and wanted to make the fic accessible to more people.  
> Also, a huge thank you goes to Olliya who helped and encouraged me in this endeavour. Without her I would have probably continued to procrastinate.

Unconsciousness disappears abruptly, like in the morning when you wake up with the fear that you are late somewhere. She slowly pulls herself together, taking in her surroundings. The setting sun paints the world scarlet colors, as if staining everything with her pain. Her head feels like it was split open. The first thing her glazed eyes stumble upon is her sensei’s figure, hunched over by the opposite boulder. He looks upset, a frown marring his face, regret in his eyes.  
“How are you?” he asks, tone subdued.  
“Sasuke and Naruto, where are they?” she quietly replies.  
“Still …” he begins.  
A pulse of pain incapacitates her when memories flash one after another in a rush, her eyes instantly moistening. Sakura turns her face to the setting sun and realizes that a turning point is approaching, that the world she loved and knew will never be the same.  
If Sasuke comes back alone ... Or if Naruto comes back with Sasuke’s body in his arms? The thought that the possibility of a peaceful solution to their conflict was lost long ago makes her choke on despair.  
“… fighting each other and it's better not to interfere.“ Kakashi continues. ”I have to get firewood, the night will be cold. Take care of yourself until my return” he adds, not unkindly.  
After receiving a nod from the kunoichi, Kakashi gets up and limps east, where the forest used to be. Sakura looks at his back and feels sorry for him... For him, for herself, for all those people trapped in the cocoons and the Infinite Tsukuyomi, for all of them who tried so hard to make a difference, for the fact that no matter how hard they tried, all their effort was inconsequential - they were unable to make a stand and defend what was dear to them. She knows the disgusting feeling of helplessness, she hoped to never bear it again.  
Kakashi suddenly stops and turns his head to the pile of stones on the right, carefully examining something. Sakura automatically follows his gaze and notices a body lying just behind it. Dark, disheveled, long hair framing his head. Goosebumps instantly run down her spine and she feels as if a thousand needles prick her arms, from her shoulders to the tips of her fingers. Even dead, he frightens her.  
“What will we do with his body?” she asks in a near whisper.  
“It's too early to think about it. The outcome of the battle between Naruto and Sasuke will determine the shape of our future world. Neither you nor I can stand up to Sasuke if he’ll defeat Naruto and will want to put his plan in action. The dead are to be dealt with later; for now we must worry about the living.”  
Kakashi vanishes while the dusk is still settling over them, leaving the medic alone with her thoughts. Sakura looks down at her hands, which are covered in cuts and dirt. Closing her eyes, she tries to assess her available chakra, both storages and circulatory levels. It is enough to heal herself and Sensei completely, but she’ll refrain from it and do as she always has: save it for any possible future needs since their wounds are not life threatening.  
The sun has almost disappeared and the ominous landscape around becomes even darker. The air gets cooler and the oppressive silence unbearable. The wind blows between the overturned boulders and large rocks, lifting dust and small particles in the air.  
The girl's gaze now and then turns to the body of one of the strongest and most dangerous men in the history of shinobi. Struggling to her feet, Sakura rummages in her hip pouch for the remaining food pills.  
Throwing one into her mouth, she glances again at the Uchiha, almost gagging. She freezes taking a defensive position, peering intently at him, without blinking. She thinks she saw his chest rise, as if inhaling, that a thin strand of hair slid from his forehead. Are these hallucinations caused by mental and physical exhaustion?  
Sakura glances around apprehensively. There is no sign of Kakashi returning, anywhere on the horizon and she decides to get closer to the Uchiha. Slowly, she moves towards the man sprawled on the stones, getting closer and closer with each movement. She inspects him carefully, from as close as shel dares to get, looking to see if she can spot the weak movement again, to verify, from a safe distance, if he is breathing.  
Three steps away from his legs, she freezes in place when she sees a barely noticeable cloud of steam rising from his parted lips. The realization that humanity’s greatest threat is still alive, still breathing, almost crumbles the remnants of her self-control.  
Haruno Sakura, the best medic of the new generation, a shinobi who survived the Fourth Ninja War on the front lines, the girl who helped defeat the vengeful goddess, now stands in front of the half-dead Uchiha Madara and almost succumbs to the rolling hysteria. Does he still want to live?  
Sakura shakes her head, hums quietly to herself when she realizes that such a sense of purpose is clearly an Uchiha clan feature. She clenches her left hand into a fist, gently dropping to her knees near his shoulder, concentrating the chakra in the required quantity. She’ll just help him a little, she’ll stop his suffering, he won’t even notice it. She feels sorry for him too, to live so long, making mistake after mistake, to die, to come back and keep going the wrong way. And now, he’s on the verge of death again, with all his dreams broken and a world that suddenly collapsed around them because of his actions. After all this time, did he realise everything he did was wrong? Did he accept his mistakes? He chose to leave peacefully, recognizing the righteousness of his eternal rival’s path. Why is he still breathing, even after removing the Juubi…?  
Sakura's thoughts are rushing uncontrollably. Terrible pictures of the possibilities lying ahead of them torment her one after another: Sasuke towering over her with his hands drenched in Naruto’s blood; Sasuke mercilessly destroying cocoon after cocoon, killing all the people captured within them, unwanted and unneeded in his new regime - judge, jury and executioner, the last Uchiha. Is this what will become of their world? Is this all they could manage?  
She presses an icy palm against a forehead. Hot, too hot. She touches his neck, counts the uneven beats of his heart. His inhales are rare and shallow, too shallow. With or without her help, he will leave this world before the morning.  
The dark whirlwind in her head calms down when all other thoughts are silenced by an insane, incredible, terrifying possibility. What will become of the world if he’s given a third chance?


	2. Useless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, a huge thank you goes to Olliya for helping me.

Her fist hangs limply, the chakra accumulated in it smoothly redirected back into her system. She needs some time to think, to evaluate all possible outcomes that may follow, depending on which course of action she decides to take, each and every possibility must be carefully considered. But the time is running out! Minutes pass and the pressure is stifling. His pulse is so weak that each and every heartbeat seems to be his last. But could she? Never mind. It’s too terrifying to think of it, let alone dare to attempt it, but... what if it works? Will she be able to do it, to heal, to almost revive him?  
And Sasuke? He definitely won't wait. It is not in his nature to be patient and accept postponing his plans, but healing takes time and effort. Her powers... Kakashi hasn't returned yet, she should at least do something!   
Sakura doesn't notice when her fingernails dig into the overheated skin on the man's chest. She must try and heal him enough to get her answers from him. Just one question.   
Finally, she decides. Perhaps this is the only moment in her existence that will have an impact on the fate of humanity, the one instance when people’s lives depend on her decision. Now she needs to act as quickly as possible.   
Since she can’t quite reach while kneeling on one side of his body, Sakura decides to get up and change the position. She sits back down next to his head and lifts it, placing it in her lap. Her palms reach for his sweat-covered temples. As her fingertips press down hard, the fine chakra threads seep inwards, examining and healing. If his answer will not assure her of his changed ways, will not relieve her of any remaining doubts, then she will simply break his neck. He’s already so weak, she just has to be carefull. What kind of answer will even satisfy her?   
Sakura concentrates and methodically heals everything that might keep him unconscious, never forgetting that this is Uchiha Madara. First she manages to get his fever to break. Next she focuses on his heart, where, with a gentle pulse of chakra she revitalises his cells and then she stimulates his adrenal glands into releasing more adrenaline in order to increase his heart rate. This should be about enough to make him wake up.   
The body in front of her shudders violently and the man begins to cough. Blood sprays from his mouth, some of it lingers on his lips - there must be some damage to one of his lungs. Eyes open, dark and cloudy.   
“Can you hear me?” she pronounces slowly, almost syllable by syllable, making sure he’ll understand. Her voice is cold and leveled, in direct opposition to the emotions raging inside of her. Her heart seems to have relocated to her throat and she needs all her strength to restrain the trembling of her hands.   
Uchiha Madara suddenly grins, looking sideways and then up.  
“I hear you, girl,” he says, voice hoarse and barely audible.  
She grabs his hair, squeezing hard against his scalp, not realising that by doing that she tilts his head back, putting pressure on his neck and airways, further aggravating his already impared respiration.  
“Tell me just one thing. Do you recognize your mistakes? Do you yearn for another chance to do right by humanity?“ she presses him, overtaken by emotions.   
The man suddenly closes his eyes with a groan and begins to convulse, choking on blood. His entire body is seized with spasms, his fingers powerlessly scraping at the stones underneath. If she doesn’t do something he will not have the time to answer her questions. The last chance she could have given him will be lost forever!  
Sakura quickly scrambles and drops his head off her lap in the process. Unsupported and not in the least controlled by the man, it hits the ground with a thud. Unconcerned, she kneels back next to his shoulder again and presses her palms to his solar plexus, keeping him down. He just needs to answer - and then she will decide, she’ll know if he’s worth granting another chance.   
Soft blue light encompasses her fingers, pressed tightly against Madara's skin. It won't work without chakra, because chakra is a conductor for vital energy. She mastered this technique in secret, after seeing it used once only. She taught herself how to perform it for the sake of another but that doesn’t matter now. The forbidden jutsu, her medical ninjutsu and Uchiha Madara's thirst for life all coupled with his regenerative abilities will be enough to stabilize him.   
It takes only a few seconds for Sakura to feel the void forming inside her, to feel something irreplaceable leaving her; it makes her toes numb and her lungs don’t seem to get enough oxygen, no matter how fast her breathing gets.   
The body under her hands relaxes again as Sakura adds more chakra and stops the hemorrhage in his lungs. Now he will answer her. Heavy eyelids rise again and Sakura's breath catches.   
The Sharingan is activated, tomoes slowly spinning. She is captured by his foreboding glare that freezes the blood in her veins. Sakura is lost, her reasons for getting herself in this position all but forgotten. Her thought process is sluggish, as if she was exhausted and starved; her thoughts are roaming aimlessly. At a loss for words, she almost screams when she looks into his eyes, as if she forgot what the consequences of that may be. 

She manages to focus. “Sasuke followed your footsteps. You, Uchiha Madara, are the one responsible for what happened to this world. Answer me! Do you still believe you did nothing wrong or do you regret the wasted lives and opportunities?“  
Madara seems to ignore her, staring aimlessly, somewhere over her shoulder. Sakura trembles. She stops pumping energy into him, leaving only a faint greenish glow around her hands.  
“Tell me, would you help us stop your clanmate from repeating your mistakes?” she asks more quietly.   
Madara smirks somehow too cheerfully, keeping his gaze fixed somewhere over her shoulder.   
“It's useless,” he throws at her.  
Sakura almost jerks at his words. Curses, ready to escape the girl's lips, get caught somewhere in her throat. Only a scream escapes her when she is pushed to the side and falls face-first into the dirt. Turning over, she sees Kakashi, kunai buried to the hilt in Uchiha Madara’s throat, who still, somehow, grins too cheerfully.  
With the crunch of the cartilage, Sakura’s glimmer of hope dies, before even being born. Sakura almost cringes under Hatake's scrutiny. Uchiha Madara did not live to see tomorrow.


	3. At midnight

What were you thinking?   
With a vile squelching sound, Kakashi yanks the metal out of Madara’s flesh and casually wipes the kunai on the Uchiha's clothes. Sakura is ready to whimper in despair. She had no other ideas or backup plans. Madara happily accepted death, showing no desire to actually stay alive and receive the chance she was offering.   
“You should have waited for me. This decision should not be taken lightly. Why did you hurry to act? Don’t you think my opinion would have been required, beneficial? What you did was incredibly foolish.   
Kakashi sighs heavily and, lowering his gaze, gets to his feet, trudging towards the pile of brushwood thrown to the side. Sakura hugs her knees and presses her forehead to them. She is simply unable to look at the Uchiha. an evaluation of his vital signs is no longer required, Kakashi surely killed him. Now, indeed, all that remains is to humbly wait for their destiny to unravel.   
Sakura’s whole body shudders and she draws in air filled with the scent of burning wood. He lit the fire. Her body unconsciously relaxes and she finds herself inching closer to the warmth.  
Kakashi examines her with a reproachful look and tosses some more wood to the flames.  
With a sigh he decides to break the silence, “In the east, a kilometer from here, a small lake has formed. The water is good. You can go down there for a change of scenery. If the possibility of a dip caught your interest, just go.”   
Sakura nods her head numbly, gets closer to the fire and rummages in her bag again for another pill. Without looking, she hands it to Kakashi, who dutifully accepts and eats it. Habits calm fried nerves. Sakura is warming up on the outside, but inside everything is frozen. Night creeps in and covers their makeshift camp. Their strange party has only to wait for dawn to find out what fate has in store for them.

***

Leaning against a boulder, Kakashi sleeps. Although he doesn’t have the sharingan anymore, its previous use, as always, had consequences, a depleting effect on the man, draining him of his strength and stamina. His body was exhausted, and after receiving some relief thanks to Sakura's healing technique, he fell into a deep sleep.   
Kakashi was tactful and didn’t reproach her any more or hold Sakura accountable for her actions. He understood her way of thinking and the despair in which she found herself immersed due to Sasuke's actions. But trying to get Madara Uchiha on their side... Incredibly naive.   
Sakura couldn't close her eyes for a long time. Fatigue forced her to lie down on the ground, but sleep did not come. The night sky was strewn with an incredible number of stars and her eyes feasted upon them. The moon was mesmerizing, hiding behind small clouds from time to time. Its light was no longer dangerous. It was quiet and devastatingly calm. Was this how she will spend her last night?   
The girl rolled onto her side and looked at Kakashi. They didn't make plans, didn't come up with any tactics. Their team seemed to have completely fallen apart. She knew perfectly well that tomorrow they might have to fight for the last time. Neither she nor her sensei would allow Sasuke to deal with their comrades so easily. If Naruto loses, then they won't stand down, they won’t obediently retreat from the last Uchiha’s path.   
Well, since everything is going to hell, then she should enjoy the last moments of peace. Sakura rose quietly and headed east, towards the place Sensei mentioned. She doesn't even notice Madara’s body. She couldn’t even if she tried. Kakashi dragged him away from the camp. He still embodies the dark path of the cursed clan's blood with his visual prowess.   
The moon illuminates everything well enough to move with ease through the landscape turned upside down. Sakura jumps from stone to stone and slides in narrow cracks between boulders. Running brings relief and she picks up speed, feeling that the destination is close.   
Kakashi mentioned the lake, but did not say a word about it being a thermal spring. Due to earthquakes and landslides, water had burst out of the ground and began to fill a small crater. The lake bed was like a crater, surrounded and partially hidden from the world by boulders and cobblestones. The surface rippled slightly and sparkled in the moonlight. Sadly, Sakura thought it was just a great parting gift. She got closer and, shaking off her sandals, touched the water with her toes. It burns a little, but it's a matter of getting accustomed to the temperature.   
Hands reach out to the hem and Sakura pulls off her pants and a jacket soaked in blood and sweat. Remaining in her shirt and panties, she looks at the torn sleeve. With a slight movement of her hand, she gets rid of the second sleeve and throws it aside. She folds her tattered clothes at the water's edge. The air by the pool is much warmer, but her skin still prickles in goose bumps from the cold. Without hesitation, she steps in and closes her eyes in pleasure. People always appreciate such things when their end is near.  
The water slowly engulfs her tormented body, her arm tingles where the acid burn is still present. Her stiff muscles relax, blood rushes through her veins faster and Sakura lets out a blissful groan. She moves her hands lazily through the water, she touches the bottom with the tips of her toes, slowly advancing towards the middle of the newly formed lake. The steam permeates everything, and it makes her hair stick to her skin, her scalp begins to itch due to all the dust caught in her rosy locks. Without thinking about it too much, Sakura takes a deep breath and completely immerses herself. After quickly washing her hair, she emerges and heads for the shore.   
She doesn't want to wear dirty clothes, but there is no way to get clean ones. She shakes her jacket, turned vest, and the frayed remnants of her pants a couple of times, trying to remove as much dust as possible. With difficulty, she pulls them onto her wet body. She puts on her sandals and fastens the buckles. Well, that was good.   
“Now that you have thoroughly enjoyed your bath, tell me, Haruno Sakura, Senju's successor, where did you get the idea that I would change my ways?”


End file.
